Happy Tuesday, comics fans! Welcome to yet another issue of your beloved little comics column that could on this shiny May afternoon. Today we are keeping it in the family as this week we turn to our editor at large, Marilyn Drew Necci, for her suggestions on comics to brighten up our rainy afternoons this spring. After that I bring back home into my own personal wheelhouse of Neil Gaiman, Disney, and Sailor Moon.

An issue of Comics X-Change without any mention of Avengers: Endgame? In my RVA Magazine? It’s more likely than you think.

On to the comics, friends.

This week we’re turning around to talk to our beloved editor-in-chief of RVA Magazine, Marilyn Drew Necci, for some recommendations. Growing up in a small Northern Virginia town, Drew flocked to gateway comics such as Captain America and Spider-Man before falling down the Frank Miller rabbit hole. We’ve all been there, am I right, ladies?

Drew is our go-to lady for music, especially of the punk variety, so it’s unsurprising that as she got older that sucked her away from comicland for awhile. Also unsurprisingly, that shows in some of her picks for us this week as well.

“DIE begins with a bunch of late-30s adults who all went through a traumatic event as teenagers, when they were sucked into a fantasy realm through a role-playing game created by their best friend,” sad Necci. “This comic is dark, for sure, and it deals with a lot of the miseries of adult life that fantasy readers are normally running headlong away from (if they’re even old enough to know about them in the first place). But as with all of Gillen’s work that I’ve read so far, this is purely excellent, and Stephanie Hans’s painterly art is the perfect complement to this pitch-black dark fantasy story.”

“Brubaker, who’s better known in comic circles for killing off Captain America and actually keeping him dead for quite a long time in Marvel Comics terms, is at his best with these pulp-noir stories of urban criminals in mid-20th century America,” said Necci. “Criminal‘s new run has focused on one-to-two issue stories, making it a great place to jump on. The next issue will be the first in what promises to be an extended arc featuring private detectives, manhunts, dangerous women, and one of Criminal‘s recurring ne’er-do-wells, Teeg Lawless. I’m so ready for it.”

“I knew Patrick Kindlon as a singer first — he contributes his vocal talents to post-hardcore bands Self-Defense Family and Drug Church. When I discovered that he wrote comics for the left-wing indie Black Mask Studios (Occupy Comics), I jumped right in,” said Necci. “Basically, a young weirdo gets dragged down a rabbit-hole of society-wide conspiracies by a mysterious stranger — sounds like prime Kindlon, and I am here for that.”

“The Wild Storm starts with a reimagining of characters and concepts from comics like WildC.A.T.S., Stormwatch, and The Authority, which Ellis worked on over a decade ago,” said Necci. “And now, The Wild Storm has taken all of this in a far more dystopian direction, as tends to be Ellis’s wont. That’s part of why I love him, of course — his comics work only really maps onto that of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, the kings of dystopian British weirdness.”

“The fact that this series focuses on a quartet of 12-year-old girls who deliver newspapers on their bikes in American suburbia in 1988 hits home for me — in 1988, I was 12 years old myself, and also had a paper route,” said Necci. “But I never had one of my early morning hell-runs interrupted by a sudden alien invasion, that’s for sure. That’s what happens at the beginning of this series, and from there, it follows the four paper girls as they try their best to stay alive and keep their wits about them in a world suddenly empty of everyone they know, and full of what sure seem to be multiple warring alien armies.”

With Avengers: Endgame now in the rearview mirror, we can focus on my other favorite things in the world. At least until I exhaust those and go right back to talking about Endgame, again.

One could make the argument that The Lion King is Disney’s original foray into the classic Shakespeare play… but that’s the next recommendation. Donald Duck takes his own crack at Yorick this week, but did he know him well? If you’re still emotionally distraught over the Avengers film that dare not speak its name, check this out to raise your spirits.

Are you just like me and extremely excited for the live action release of The Lion King with Childish Gambino himself, Donald Glover as Simba? Cool, so that’s probably just the two of us. But lucky for you and me, we have this graphic novel to keep us entertained until the summer. Go us!

The modernization of Naoko Takeuchi’s classic and iconic magical-girl franchise that revolutionized the genre around the world for generations is back and updated for 2019. Mako-chan on Tinder? Doubtful, but anything is possible!

What are you grabbing up in this post Thanos world, friends? Let us know what we should be on the lookout for!

Happy Tuesday, my comics-loving babes! If you are reading this, I will assume that you survived Thanos’s snap. But did you survive the three hours and one minute that was Avengers: Endgame this weekend?

Trust me. We’re getting to that in a minute.

We’re entering the hot season for conventions, folks. Between Awesome Con in Washington DC this past weekend and Galaxy Con coming up at the Richmond Convention Center next month, almost every illustrator, writer, and comic fan is going to be full of buzz for the next convention. Lucky for us, local illustrator Jordan Kincaid took time out of her super-busy schedule to tell us the lowdown on what she is digging into these days.

Kincaid is a Richmond-based illustrator and VCU alumnus who most recently has been featuring her work as part of the OwlCrate subscription service for Young Adult books and media. Her work often focuses on a whimsical, fairy-tale aesthetic. And if that sounds like it might be in your wheelhouse, then you’re really going to dig the recommendations she has for us.

Following the current modern retelling trend, Smythe’s Lore Olympus online webtoon retells the infamous myth of Hades and Persephone, and asks — what if they started as just good friends?

“Hades is incredibly thoughtful, kind, and respectful, especially to sweet little Persephone,” said Kincaid. “The entire cast is so colorful, both literally and figuratively. The comic also very respectfully handles more serious issues, especially regarding consent, sexual assault, and processing that trauma. Note that Hades does not commit this horrible act. The series is still ongoing, and I honestly look forward to reading each new chapter every Saturday night.”

“A cursed monster who goes by the name Teacher comes across a small girl named Shiva in the woods,” said Kincaid. “Knowing that Shiva would most likely die if he doesn’t do something, he takes the child and raises her as his own. However, he cannot touch her, as he is a cursed being who can pass his curse to humans just by simply touching them. Throughout the series, he protects her from the other monsters in the woods and the even more monstrous humans that enter their realm.”

If you’re a fan of dark anime, and just of Rogue from X-Men as a person (same, thanks), then you need to add this to your list.

A blacksmith’s apprentice named Greta just so happens to save a tiny tea dragon one day. When she takes it to an older couple who know how to help him, she and her new friend become embedded in the world of tea dragons. Color me jealous.

“I find that I always feel warm after reading this,” said Kincaid. “This short and calming tale is a perfect read before bed, for kids and adults alike. Each panel is so colorful and full of whimsy. It also has great LGBT representation through Hesekiel and Erik. Even though the comic is short, you will still get swept away in the colorful and whimsical world of Tea Dragons.”

“Although this series is older, it has become more relevant recently due to its 2019 anime reboot,” said Kincaid. “This manga series is like a hot bowl of soup on a cold day. Tohru is such a caring protagonist, and each zodiac member is filled to the brim with character as well. The romance that the series portrays is incredibly innocent and sweet. You can’t help but fall in love with all the zodiac members, or at least have a favorite 😉 Mine is the year of the Dragon, Hatori.”

“Mias, a wizard from a Tudor-like dimension, whisks away Elle, a girl from our dimension,” said Kincaid. “A magical belle told him to pick her for some reason that he still can’t figure out. Elle wants nothing to do with this, as she has experienced a recent loss and just wants to move on with her life. Instead, she is trapped with a handsome wizard, helping him with god knows what until he can return her home safely.”

Kincaid also added that if you’re into British humor and “saucy wizard men, this this comic is for you.”

“This rendition of the Beast is very gentle, formal, and so pure of heart that you just want to scoop him up,” said Kincaid. “The chemistry that Belle and the Beast share together is really strong. Their relationship develops very naturally, and you can’t help but sigh between every adorable scene these two share. The atmosphere is beautifully gloomy. You can feel how cold and hostile the castle is, in contrast to the Beast’s warmth — so much so that you don’t want him to change back into the prince at the end.”

Alright, folks. We’re getting to the meat of this issue. I’m only going to say this once, but if you have not yet seen Avengers: Endgame, then you’re going to want to turn away now. Unless you’re into that kind of thing.

Once again. Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame are about to occur. This is your final warning.

[I won’t see it until Thursday… so I’m not editing the rest of this. Sorry, Ash. -ed.]

WHAT THE HELL.

This past weekend was the long awaited opening weekend for the finale of Marvel’s Infinity Saga, Avengers: Endgame. Eleven years and twenty-two films in the making later and it concludes with a grand total of $1.2 billion worldwide opening weekend. Clocking in at three hours and one minute exactly, it is also officially the longest film released thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Maybe it’s because I grew up in the era of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and subsequent director’s cut editions but this didn’t feel like three hours at all. The pace was easily the most consistent out of all of the MCU franchise films, in regard to both narrative and action. I felt like it was a pretty even balance, which can be difficult to do, especially because going in we already knew that this film was going to be packed. There is a lot to unload to get us from point A to point B.

It was emotionally exhausting in the best way that it could be. Most of the loose ends were tied up, and honestly, if you keep up with casting news then quite frankly you already knew how this was ultimately going to play out. I was not surprised that Tony Stark died, especially since Robert Downey Jr has been sharing to the world for the last five years or so that he’s ready to move on.

However, I was a little surprised that Steve Rogers did not die. I was completely ready and expecting Marvel to pull a very parallel Death of Superman moment on Cap, especially after we learned that he is in fact worthy of Mjolnir. Rogers passing the Captain America torch to Sam aka Falcon was something that I was hoping would happen for a long time, but I was prepared for MCU to cater to the majority and pass it off to Bucky.

When I got what I wanted you could probably hear me screaming over the river.

As much as I loved this film, and without shame will share with everyone how I ugly cried for three hours and change, I did have some issue with it that I can’t ignore, especially as we take some time off before we enter Phase 4 of the MCU.

Just when exactly is Natasha Romanoff going to catch a damn break?

Natasha has had exactly two good films in the MCU – Iron Man 2, and The Avengers. The rest followed the trend of starting her off strong, and then ending very weak when the writers got bored with her. One of the biggest issues that still bothers me is how Natasha being sterile was treated so poorly.

I get that she can’t have children, it’s canon, it’s what it is. That is not my issue. My issue is how in the MCU it was treated so lazily and almost to the point that it was lumped in with the “red on her ledger” that she continues to speak of. It was mentioned for ten minutes and then dropped.

Hard.

This is not the damn Budapest gag between her and Clint Barton. This is not a throw away gag. This is a very serious, very real issue that you can’t just bring up so flippantly when you are too lazy to take the time to actually develop her character and move her story along. That’s a sign of a terrible writer.

Enter Endgame. Five years into the future Natasha has entered a powerful leadership position. She’s understandably stressed and exhausted, but she’s the leader we all knew she could and should be. She even gets her bestie back to go skipping into the sunset with, and if you subscribe to the (also painfully weak and poorly written) romance between her and Bruce Banner, then she also gets her honey back. Life’s coming up Milhouse, y’all.

Except oh no, oh wait no it isn’t because we’re also going to kill her for the soul stone.

I’m not mad how, Natasha died. I want to make that crystal clear. I am mad why she died.

I knew that Hawkeye and Black Widow were going to fight it out to see who would sacrifice themselves. What I did not (and honestly shame on me because I totally should have) seen coming was Black Widow’s rationale was because she “does not have have a family” and Clint does.

Then who the hell was this ragtag band of misfit toys that she has spent the last eight years with?

I could also go into another further tangent about how gross it was that Natasha never got a funeral but Tony Stark did, and well really anyone else and how it felt like she died to serve as a motivator for the men in her life but we don’t have that kind of time. Also Gamora already had to do the same thing, apparently in Avengers: Infinity War last year so.

That being said, I do want to make it clear that despite some personal issues I have with the film, as an overall piece and conclusion? I did love it. I absolutely loved it and I will undeniably go back both alone and dragging my partner along to see it about thirty more times. At least.

Also, between Brie Larson campaigning hard for an all female Avengers, and the panoramic shot of all of the women about to tear it up? Oh, yes. We’re just getting started here.

Good afternoon, comics fans! Welcome to not only the first Comic X-Change issue of the new year, but the big whopper – Issue Number 10! For such a special issue, and to kick this brand new year off right, I decided to reach out to one of my very best comic friends and gurus, Kevin Smith of Third Eye Comics in Mechanicsville.

This issue, we’ve got some good hearty amuse-bouches for you to appetize your palate after the holidays. Kevin is bring us some big hitters to watch for in the lands of Marvel and DC, and then I’m going to close us out with the big topic my brain can’t shut up about – Stranger Things Season 3. Let’s get down to business, y’all.

“[Bruce] Banner was killed about three years ago in Civil War II, and thought to have been gone for awhile, and had been brought back,” said Smith. “Marvel’s taking The Hulk back to his origins, the way he was back in the 60s when he was created, where Banner and Hulk are more of a Jekyll and Hyde creature now.”

“I’m really enjoying this because [Venom writer Donny] Cates has decided to take Venom and, instead of just being one character, [write] the mythology and the history of the symbiotes,” said Smith. “[He’s] taking them back literally to the dawn of time.”

“DC has created this super secret place called Sanctuary,” said Smith. “Someone has gone into the Sanctuary, somebody has found the video files of the heroes where they take their masks off and confess what happened.”

“This is something best described as the kids from Stranger Things, mixed with the kids from IT, mixed with Jumanji,” said Smith.

On January 1st, Stranger Things fans were gifted not one but two wonderful presents, and just as we thought the holidays were winding down to a close. Both the official release date poster artwork (above), and a new trailer that also confirmed the official release date, were released as we rung in the new year. We still have just under another six months to go before all of our questions are answered in eight new episodes, but let’s take a look at some things.

“One summer can change everything.” So the new season will take course over the course of the summer of 1985, which we kind of figured when the first teaser came out and showed Mother of the Year Steve Harrington working his new summer mall job. The final episode title is “The Battle of Starcourt,” so while it’s safe to assume that the mall is where the showdown with the big-bad is going to play, is it centered around July 4th? What specifically about July 4th is so crucial?

Also, why are four of the kids stoked for the fireworks, while El and Mike are the only ones wigging out?

Let’s also backtrack a little bit more and dig deeper into theory land. A month or two ago, David Harbour posted on his instagram about shaving his mustache. While this in and of itself is innocuous enough given that he has been filming Hellboy and probably has a new project to work on, something else feels weird. He did go into a long speech about how Hopper was the greatest role of his life…

Now granted, he could just be generally excited that filming is over, and ready to see how fans react to the new season. Or you could be me, dig much deeper, and question if Harbour just released a backdoor spoiler. Is it a possibility that beloved asshole sheriff Chief Jim Hopper dies this season?

Guess we’ll find out in another one hundred and seventy-seven days. But who’s counting?

Good afternoon and happy holidays, comic fans! Welcome to that weird in-between week at the end of the holidays where up is down, left is right, DC is Marvel. I hope regardless of what you celebrate that you had a great holiday season, and I hope you got all of the comic goodness your nerdy little heart desired.

I am filled with cheesecake and potatoes and ready to dive into this week’s comic talk here at RVA Mag. This week we have comic author Aubrey Sitterson sitting down with me, all the way from much warmer California, to tell us his picks for the next few weeks in comic-land.

Aubrey Sitterson is the author of The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling. He has worked for all of the major comics publishers, including Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse, and even lived in the River City for awhile before ultimately moving when he was eighteen. As someone who is so immersed in the industry, what does Sitterson think we need to keep an eye on for the next few weeks?

“I’m a sucker for the 90s X-books, and none more so than X-Force, so this is an easy sell for me to begin with,” said Sitterson. “I also know for a fact that it’ll be the best looking book on the stands the day after Christmas, because it’s got art by the brilliant Dylan Burnett, who I was lucky to work with on a series of Doctor Spektor back-ups at Dynamite!”

“If you’re familiar with their work on Rock Candy Mountain, you know what a powerhouse pair Kyle Starks and Chris Schweizer are,” said Sitterson. “Here, they turn their considerable talents to the twisted, violent, and hilarious.”

“Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian is one of the most important characters in all of speculative fiction, every bit as foundational as the work of J.R.R. Tolkien,” said Sitterson. “I can’t think of a better team than Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar to breathe new life into the Cimmerian.”

“Like everyone else, I’m stoked to see what-all Marvel does with the Conan license, but for years prior, Dark Horse has been bringing their A-game,” said Sitterson. “This is a massive, 700-page collection full of amazing work from Kurt Busiek, P. Craig Russell, Timothy Truman, Ariel Olivetti, and more.”

“Erik Larsen’s magnum opus is something truly unique,” said Sitterson. “Don’t worry about going back and starting from the beginning – diving into the middle of one of the all-time great superhero comics runs is a huge part of the fun.”

“It’s a great time to be a fan of Go Nagai’s Devilman,” said Sitterson. “Not only was Devilman Crybaby an amazing fever dream reimagining of the classic manga, but Seven Seas Entertainment is currently publishing the original series, as well as this other recent reinterpretation, now on its fifth and final volume.”

This week as I slowly crawl back into the real world from my food and festive coma, I have one killer recommendation for you. “Die Kitty Die” by Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz is the most meta of meta right now. Starring witch Kitty Ravencraft, Die Kitty Die finds Kitty trying to survive while the creators of her own comic try to kill her off. Bonus points for the neat cameo by God, as played by American treasure Bea Arthur.

As the year and the season draws to a close, at least we can take solace in so many things to look forward to next year: so many new and continuing comic series, the film releases of Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, and hell, even a new chapter in the Men in Black franchise. Happy new year, comic fans!

Good afternoon and happy holidays, comic fans! Welcome back to yet another issue of your favorite biweekly go to spot for comic and pop culture talk. If you’re like me you used Sunday’s Snowmageddon to hole up and catch up on the latest and greatest out there right now (and honestly, to rewatch the new Avengers trailer ad nauseum, which we will also go into. Stay tuned). Now that the snow is melting, we’re ready to warm up to some new soon-to-be favorites.

Luckily for us, this week we have local comic writer and VCU adjunct professor Francesca Lyn to tell us what she has been digging lately. Lyn is the author and co-creator, along with artist Sally Cantirino, of Flower Girls, which explores what happens to magical girls after they grow up. While Lyn got a lot of her favorite comics from this year’s Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD, Richmond’s Velocity Comics is her home store.

The daily comic strip, which dates back to the 30s, was recently taken over by a young female cartoonist, Olivia Jaimes. She has injected modern touchstones and absurdist humor into the strip, making it suddenly relevant again. “A lot of fans of Nancy are super divided, but I really like this fresh take.” said Lyn.

My own recommendation to you is something you have undeniably already seen. Marvel decided to stop toying with us and not only finally released the Avengers 4 trailer, but gave us an official name to go with it.

Avengers: Endgame.

I have been calling it forever and everyone rolled their eyes at me, so to see it official made me do a Looney Tunes-esque style cackle before my phone fell on my face. There is so much to unpack though with this trailer, and honestly, I have never wanted a film to come out right now more. At least, since probably every other Avengers film.

Tony Stark is officially just giving up and accepting his destiny to drift along through space. Thanos is enjoying the peace and calm after he totaled half of the planet; his armor hangs like a creepy scarecrow. Captain America has shaved the beard.

But is Shuri even still alive, though? How did Ant-Man escape the Quantum Realm? Does John Watson ever make an appearance and ask Sherlock why he is wearing a towel around his neck and talking in a weird American accent?

So many questions!

As we sit here in as little patience as possible until April 26th, at least we can be sure of one thing — NASA is finally doing what we pay them to do, and is trying to help Marvel figure out how to bring Tony Stark back home.